Dear Colleagues,

     I am greatly pleased and honored to invite all of you to the 7th International Congress of Asia-Pacific Hernia Society (APHS) 2011, to be held between 8 – 11 November 2011 in Hua-Hin, Thailand.

     This is an important year for Thai people as we will be celebrating the 84th year of His Majesty the King's birthday. In commemorating this occasion, our organizing committee has developed the following theme for this year's meeting: "Sufficient, Sustainable and Safe Hernia Surgery."

     The program promises to be comprehensive, educational, practical and stimulating. There will be prominent international as well as regional speakers to present on their areas of expertise.

     Hua-Hin is a peaceful and beautiful seaside town on the Gulf of Thailand with perfect weather in November. On November 10, Thais will celebrate a beautiful full moon festival called "Loy Kratong," where people will place a personal candle-lit float in the water. All participants of our meeting and their families are encouraged to participate in this cultural event.

     You are cordially invited to come to Hua-Hin and join us in this gathering.

Sathien Tumtavitikul, M.D. Congress President

Dear Colleagues and Members of the Asia-Pacific Hernia Society

     It is a great honor and privilege to invite and welcome all of you to attend the 7th Annual International Congress of the Asia-Pacific Hernia Society in the “Land of Smiles”

     This year the Congress will be held in Hua-Hin, Thailand in a special period of the year, during the world-renowned “Loi Krathong” from November 8 to 11, 2011. This will be an unforgettable occasion for all the surgeons, families and friends that are interested in abdominal wall and hernia surgery. An occasion not only to get together with worldwide experts, exchange knowledge and experience but also to reinforce our friendship floating the candle-lit “krathong” with our families and kids along the river. According to the tradition this will bring good luck and we will honor the Goddess of Water in a time where natural resources are becoming more important and we should keep our environment safe for our future generation.

     The Theme of the 2011 Congress reflects the practice and socio-economic aspect of our region “Sufficient, Sustainable and Safe Hernia Surgery”.  Hernia repair is one of the most common surgical procedures and hernia management and treatment is where a surgeon ought to be comfortable and practice should be able to follow the principle of Evidence Based Medicine to provide the best of the care of the patients. There is no one mesh or one simple technique for hernia repair but the cure of hernia should be tailored accordingly to several factors including patient, surgical technique and experience and biomaterials available.

     APHS boost almost 1000 Members from 19 Asia-Pacific Countries and to bring together all the Members to share experience, idea and friendship is one of the missions of our Society that we want to achieve during our Annual Congress in Hua-Hin.

     I am thankful to all the members of the Organizing Committee, the Thai Hernia Society and in particularly to the President of the Congress Prof. Sathien for the great effort in making this conference a landmark event. I am sure that all Delegates will appreciate the effort that has been put on for organizing this conference both scientifically and socially.
 
     Looking forward to see all of you in Hua-Hin to float our Krathong together and I wish this Congress a great success.

With Best Regards

President of the Asia-Pacific Hernia Society